Display of Affection They're affordable and easy on the eyes-literally. What's not to love about LCDs?

Once you hook up an LCD flat-panel display to your office PC,you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. If you'vealready got one, you know what we're talking about. If youdon't, now's a good time to find out. Many 15-inch LCDdisplays have broken through the $500 price point and are headedfor $400. They're not just cool gadgets anymore; they'recool business hardware.

Yes, you'll pay more than you would for a standard monitor,but you'll get more desk space and have a better viewingexperience. Flicker-free LCDs are less punishing on the eyes, soyour employees will thank you, and OSHA certainly won't mind.Your electricity bill won't suffer under the load of thesepower misers, either.

Size matters. Well, screen size matters. Fifteen inches maysound small by today's 17-inch-and-up CRT standards, but theviewing space of a 15-inch LCD is roughly equivalent to a 17-inchmonitor. For certain graphics-heavy or legal-sized-sheetapplications, you might need a larger monitor. At $800 and $1,000(all prices street), respectively, the 17-inch ViewSonic VE170 and18-inch NEC-Mitsubishi MultiSync LCD1830 are about twice the priceof a 15-inch LCD. But you'll get improved graphics and moreviewing space.